While the fiery rock & roll spirit of the La's Lee Mavers courses through their veins, the debut album by youthful Liverpudlian mystics the Coral prove they are far more than Merseybeat imitators. The opening "Spanish ... more »Main" ("We've set sail again! / We're heading for the Spanish Main!") casts the sextet as marauding pirates, out to pillage musical history for loot. It's possible to hear the influence of everything from Captain Beefheart to Miles Davis, from Spanish mariachi music to Cossack dance rhythms, surfacing between the tight, ragged grooves of "I Remember When" and "Shadows Fall." This album is stuffed to bursting point with ideas that are presented with remarkable clarity. Highlights are the curious, swooping fable of "Simon Diamond" and the insane "Skeleton Key," which finds frontman James Skelly croaking, "Solid gold skeleton key / Opens the most intricate lock / Brother, roll another for me / I am shipwrecked on the rocks!" as his bandmates caw like parrots in the background. --Louis Pattison« less
While the fiery rock & roll spirit of the La's Lee Mavers courses through their veins, the debut album by youthful Liverpudlian mystics the Coral prove they are far more than Merseybeat imitators. The opening "Spanish Main" ("We've set sail again! / We're heading for the Spanish Main!") casts the sextet as marauding pirates, out to pillage musical history for loot. It's possible to hear the influence of everything from Captain Beefheart to Miles Davis, from Spanish mariachi music to Cossack dance rhythms, surfacing between the tight, ragged grooves of "I Remember When" and "Shadows Fall." This album is stuffed to bursting point with ideas that are presented with remarkable clarity. Highlights are the curious, swooping fable of "Simon Diamond" and the insane "Skeleton Key," which finds frontman James Skelly croaking, "Solid gold skeleton key / Opens the most intricate lock / Brother, roll another for me / I am shipwrecked on the rocks!" as his bandmates caw like parrots in the background. --Louis Pattison
Tired of new retro? Hear's a breath of VERY fresh air.
P. Funky | Tampa, Florida United States | 03/06/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I am a fan of new retro bands like The Walkmen, The Strokes, Frech Kicks, The Hives, etc, etc. But it gets old at times. When I saw this band, The Coral, on Conan O'Brien a week or so ago, I was immediately at attention. They played the song "Dreaming Of You". I just knew that I had to hear more. As soon as I did, I immediately began to wonder how I would possibly describe them to my friends. I can hear so many old Rock n'Roll influences in the music, that it's hard to pick one. The Beatles is the best way to describe it, in a different way than other bands. If you ask most rock bands nowadays the top five bands that influenced them the most, 9 out of 10 would say The Beatles, but, for The Coral, it is in a much more direct sense. I wouldn't be surprised if they started as a Beatles cover band by the way they sound, in the same way that is not surprising in the least bit that The Vines started as a Nirvana cover band. But don't think for a second that only Beatles fans will be interested. I am a mainly ska and punk (or ska-punk if you'd prefer to mix the two) guy myself. But this is still one of my favorite new bands, along with Authority Zero, Maroon 5 and Andrew W.K. See what I mean about varied musical tastes loving this band? This is the most original, incredible music I've heard in a LONG time."
Best CD of 2002
HelpMeMonday | NY | 07/03/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I first Heard the Song "dreamin' of you" on Conan O'brian and I really I liked it, and I thought the rest of the CD was gonna be like that song. The rest of the CD didn't sound like the Song too much but i was blown away by the songs any way. After listening to it I wished it was foggy out so I can go on a boat, in to the ocean and Get the full Coral experience.Favorite Tracks:
Shadows Fall - the harmonies in this track are unbalievable. It is a really smooth song with some saxophones and psychedelic keyboards. Very Psychedelic.
Dreamin' Of You - When I heard this track I thought The Coral were a strokes type band since this song reminds me of them. Anyway, Its a really cool ubbeat love song with a nice guitar solo.
WildFire - A good neo-psychedelic sea shanty. All I can say.BUY THIS CD"
Not since the Stone Roses....
R. sigler | Dallas, TX USA | 03/06/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"After buying music from the UK scene since I was fifteen, the freshness was wearing off - until now. The last album that had this kind of impact on me was Oasis' "Morning Glory", and that album has always been a guilty pleasure. Before that, only one other release gave me goosebumps - The Stones Roses debut lp. Now, The Coral ain't the Roses, but it's better than almost any of the overhyped records from last year, including the Queens Of The Stoneage (ok, a U.S. band) and The Music, which were just "ok", at best. So, what's so special about this one - it's so over-the-top, with pop, psych, reggae and anything else they thought would fit into the stew. But, the main thing that makes it work is that it never sounds derivative, as so many other guitar acts do. There's a bit of Beefheart, Beatles, Wedding Present and lord knows what else. It's not going to be to everyone's taste, but if you give it a chance, you'll find this to be one of the most rewarding acts to come out of the UK in years."
Whoa....trippy man...
Matt London | Indianapolis, IN | 02/14/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I had never heard of The Coral but their song Dreaming of You is featured in an episode of Scrubs. It is a damn fine pop song and I had to check out the rest of the album. So...no other song on the disc sounds remotely like it. This disc seems like something put together by late 60's and early 70's acid/psychedelic bands. I hear influences by early Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Santana, Donovan, maybe some Moody Blues and Jefferson Airplane. No one song has the same exact sound influence but it is all so groovy and funky. You would never guess by listnening that it was a modern artist or recording.
So that is a description, but does it rock? Hell yeah. I first listened to it in my car but if you have a pair of headphones, jam it on your MP3.
I am just old enough to recognize the roots of this stuff but not quite old enough to have been in my musical prime while those roots were in the forefront. I like bands like Franz Ferdinand, The Killers and the like and as another reviewer said, this is not that sound at all. I do see some minor connection to the White Stripes, but mostly due to a persistent heavy bass line throughout this album.
So to summarize:This is real retro rock. The era is 60's/70's psych rock as opposed to 80's punk & garage, but truly cool music. I am going to definitely try another disc from The Coral after completely digesting this one. And "Dreaming of You" is probably one of the better pop songs I have heard recently."
Brave Old World
Tezcatlipoca | Espinho,Portugal | 08/25/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Imagine Arthur Lee and Jim Morrison sailing across the world in Captain Beefheart's ship, wreaking havoc and looting the musical riches they encounter in order to concoct the best, most bizarrely tuneful music on earth and you might be close to what the Coral's brand of psych pop sounds like.
They composed this unnaturally assured debut while no one in the band was even 20 and that surely lends their music a youthful effervescence rivalled by nobody in these days of studied posturing and mechanical songwriting- they put across the tremendous fun they must have had making this album.
I was initially drawn to this band because it was the very first time I saw anyone being actively influenced by my favourite band- Love, but I've become a Coral fan basically due to their blending formula in which the only rule seems to be that, as long as there's quality in it, every genre can be absorbed and consequently transformed in heady and highly entertaining pop music.
In addition to their adventurous nature they write truly memorable songs, of which the supremely catchy "Dreaming of You", "I Remember When" and "Goodbye" are sterling examples, without totally abandoning a more gnarly and obscure side ("Skeleton Key", the bonus track "Time Travel").
Who would have thought that the best album of the 21st century would mostly reach for inspiration from almost 40 years in the past?
The Coral's debut does just that and settles the band not as promising hopefuls but as more than qualified contenders for the title of most vital band in the world.